French Cable Hut

The French Cable Hut stands at the junction of Cable Road and Ocean View Drive in North Eastham, a few yards south of Nauset Lighthouse and just west of the Nauset cliffs. It is a small shed-like wooden structure with traditional Cape shingled sides; the original one-room hut retains interior tongue-and-groove walls inscribed with the names, dates, and cable-circuitry sketches of cable personnel, and the old cable ends still lie under its floor. Built about 1891, it served as a relay/cable hut linking the transatlantic French Atlantic Cable Company line (laid in 1879 from Brest, France, via St. Pierre, Miquelon, to North Eastham) to the company's Orleans station. The cable line was abandoned in 1932, and the hut - which preceded Marconi's Cape Cod wireless station by some 24 years - is now National Park Service property, significant for its role in transatlantic communications.

French Cable Hut is a landmark in Eastham, Barnstable County. It is one of 6,558 landmarks documented in Barnstable County, among 6,897 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.

The site sits at 41.8594, -69.9524 near Eastham. The nearest cataloged historic site is Nauset Beach Light (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Nauset Beach Light Keeper's House, Nauset Beach Light Oil House, and Twin Sisters of Nauset Lighthouse.

This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.